Local food networks reflect progress and potential

[nosmokes]

Good article on the growing local food movement.
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original-newfarm
Local food networks reflect progress and potential
At the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture's 20th anniversary celebration, discussion swirls around supporting the blossoming connections between local consumers and local farmers.

By Darcy Maulsby
Posted August 9, 2007

A quiet revolution has redefined Iowa’s food culture, connecting farmers and consumers like never before. Yet the local-food movement is just beginning to flex its collective muscles to tackle the next set of challenges to become a sustainable and consistent part of the food system.

“In the last 10 to 20 years, the focus of local foods has been on consumers, and we need to celebrate these successes,” said Kamyar Enshayan, coordinator of the University of Northern Iowa’s (UNI) Local Food Project. Enshayan addressed attendees at a regional foods workshop during the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture’s 20th anniversary celebration recently in Ames, Iowa. “Now we need to help farmers capitalize on their market power.”

The successes are many, agreed fellow panelist Neil Hamilton, director of the Drake University Agricultural Law Center in Des Moines. One of the most visible changes in Iowa agriculture spearheaded by the Leopold Center includes the local-food movement, which began to take hold in Iowa in the 1990s. “When the Leopold Center celebrated its 10th anniversary, one of the most memorable events was the meal of locally grown food,” Hamilton said. “This was the first time the Scheman Center at Iowa State University had been asked to serve local food. The farmers who raised the food were introduced, and the whole event was moving and powerful.”

CSAs and institutions lead the charge
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complete article here